Zura/Eli - A Ship Manifesto
"It is universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of overactive imagination must be in want of an Amanto spouse: A manifesto."
To get this out of the way, no, I'm not being a trololo here, at least not completely. I ship these two wholeheartedly and with great intensity. And yes, Eli's gender is not confirmed yet ( at least not in the anime), but does it really matter? Zura measures and loves people by their souls, not their gender or origins. Or their hair legs.
Naturally, the immediate question would be: why would anyone see romantic (or bromantic) possibilities between a man and a duck? The thing is, for Zura, Elizabeth is far more important than an exotic pet. Will you trust your organization to your pet when a crisis demands your absence? Will you risk capture at the hands of Bakufu loyalists to save them from peril? You get the drift.
Before we get further, here's the obligatory introduction for the series, Zura, and Eli:
ABOUT THE SILVER BALLS...ERRRRR....SOUL.
Gintama is, officially, a space comedy about Samurais and their colorful hijinks in a world occupied by Amantos (Aliens in GintaSpeak). Much of the story revolves around Sakata Gintoki (slacker, sugar-junkie, JUMP-obsessed samurai whose heart is bigger than the great galaxy itself), Kagura (a mountain gorilla in the guise of a little girl, and a member of a much-exalted mercenary race called Yato), and Shimura Shinpachi, the tsukkkomi. The trio run an Odd-Jobs business, Yorozuya Gin-chan, tackling literally every mission available, from the ridiculous to the truly dangerous. As they go about their misadventures, they develop meaningful relationships with fellow misfits, strays, and crazyheads.
MEET THE MAN
Zura is introduced as Gintoki's childhood friend, war buddy and partner-in-idiocy, a young man unwilling to move on from his past. In their childhood, Gintoki and Zura lived and learned under the tutelage of the kind-hearted Shoyo-sensei, who taught them the way of the sword and the heart. When the Amanto invaded their country, they were plunged into a long, bloody, and ultimately fruitless war which scarred both men in different ways. While Gintoki attempts his best to move on after the war is lost, Zura spends quite a while dragging the past with him as a leader of a Joui rebel faction with hardliner tactics, until Gintoki slaps him awake with the realization that fatalism isn't the answer to their struggle.
If that made him seem like a mighty serious character, well, worry not. He has plenty of boke charm in him. He can conjure tearjerker shoujo storylines while counting sheep. He arrives for his driving lessons decked in Space Captain gear. And he frequently spouts profound lines like these:
MEET THE DUCK
Elizabeth is introduced in episode 15 (Owners and Their Pets are Alike) when Sakamoto (Zura's other war buddy, a space merchant) delivers it to him as a gift with no notes attached. It is an oft-visited in-joke that Elizabeth is an 'ossan' (old man) beneath his suit, evidenced by his hairy legs and 'old man smell' (episode 129), a fact Zura constantly ignores.
IT'S NOT A SHIP, IT'S ZURABETH!
There's an underlying sweetness from both sides of the relationship. Zura accepts and trusts Eli despite knowing very little about his/her identity. When you consider Zura's past history, particularly his lifelong hatred of Amantos, his closeness with Eli seems almost miraculous. Only Zura and his silly, naive heart would take on a space creature who won't even talk and call it his best friend until, eventually, they find a way to communicate-that their method of communication is so stupidly unique and theirs alone makes it all the more sweeter.
And, as it turned out, Zura is a pretty excellent judge of character. One couldn't hope to find a better friend on this planet than Eli, who deals with Zura's stupid antics with limitless supply of patience and devotion.
(...We're gonna ignore this, okay, this is not manga-canon anyway. This is Zura's nightmare, brought about by soba overdose. )
Eli's loyalty shines the brightest in the Benizakura arc. When Zura goes missing, Eli seeks Yorozuya's assistance, overcoming his awkwardness around strangers. Later on, when the trail of their investigation leads to the ship of a highly dangerous organization, Eli bravely marches to enemy territory to provide decoy for Shinpachi and make a clear statement. Enter Eligo Montoyabeth.
"I'd like some directions."
"Where to?"
"To the gates of Hell!"
And that is not all. As the crisis unfolds, Zura finds himself caught between two duties - that of a leader protecting his men in a battle zone, and that of a comrade seeking to redeem his old friend. It is Eli who sees through Zura's dilemma and responds to it unprompted, allowing Zura a chance to reach out to said friend and promising to hold the fort until Zura returns...
But not before acknowledging how glad he is to see his master back.
Zura's admission to Takasugi, the acknowledgement that he no longer believes in anarchy after meeting all these precious people in his life, is an important character development. It also begs the question: if Zura had never met Elizabeth, the only one of the aforementioned 'important people' who's constantly there to watch his steps, would he have gone back to his old ways?
ZURA & ELI AGAINST THE WORLD
For all of Zura's crazy shoujo stories, he's essentially alone, without a true equal to fight back-to-back with. One of his closest comrades has gone to far-end galaxies, and the other off the deep end. That leaves Gintoki, who has, in a way, moved on, choosing a different kind of battle with his own little family of strays. Zura's men are his men, but they're more a responsibility than a shoulder to lean on. Add to that Zura's unfathomable thought process, and you've got someone doomed to live his entire life alone, had Elizabeth not come along.
Similarly, Eli is essentially an alien stuck in a world that regards him as an odd, freaky thing (even Yorozuya needs time to warm up to him). Only Zura sees him as something 'cute' and lovable. In a sense, they are the only ones who can understand each other, even if the bond isn't something most people will get.
'TIL DEATH STAR DO US APART.
The world Gintama characters inhabit is a crazy and dangerous place where screwdrivers can replace your balls on Fridays, and given Zura's status as political fugitive and Joui leader, things are always gonna be a little rocky for our favorite wighead. However, as long as he's got Eli by his side to rock a dancefloor and share a bowl of soba with, everything's gonna be all right.
We appreciate the lavish descriptions on the menu, but we just want pictures,
a.k.a, show me the fanworks.
Zura/Eli fics (bromance or romance) are extraordinarily difficult to find, although there are excellent genfics that include snippets of their relationship. Pandemonium by xparrot (chapter 11) is one example.
Fanart is another matter entirely. It's raining ZuraEli fanarts on the intarwebs!
.by まぐろゆっけ at pixiv
by 烏鴨 at pixiv (Nuriko-kun @ DA)
by LEE at pixiv
Artist unknown ;___;
...and many more. Go and find 'em. Or make your own. Ask not what your ship can do for you, but ask what you can do for your ship.
Zura and Eli TYFYT. ♥
Sources & Credits:
Images (top to bottom, including gifs):
1. Screencap provided by myvanillafetish.tumblr 2. Official art , source unknown 3. Screencap provided by naturalperm.tumblr 4. Source unknown 5. Screencap by myvanillafetish.tumblr 6. Official art 7. Screencap by myvanillafetish.tumblr 8. Artwork by Ask Elizabetsu 9. GIF made by -katsu.tumblr 10. My own shoddy capping job 11. Ditto 12. Screencaps by sn1987a 13. Official art, source unknown 14. GIF made by -katsu.tumblr 15-20. credited before the image 21.Official art, source unknown.
To get this out of the way, no, I'm not being a trololo here, at least not completely. I ship these two wholeheartedly and with great intensity. And yes, Eli's gender is not confirmed yet ( at least not in the anime), but does it really matter? Zura measures and loves people by their souls, not their gender or origins. Or their hair legs.
Naturally, the immediate question would be: why would anyone see romantic (or bromantic) possibilities between a man and a duck? The thing is, for Zura, Elizabeth is far more important than an exotic pet. Will you trust your organization to your pet when a crisis demands your absence? Will you risk capture at the hands of Bakufu loyalists to save them from peril? You get the drift.
Before we get further, here's the obligatory introduction for the series, Zura, and Eli:
ABOUT THE SILVER BALLS...ERRRRR....SOUL.
Gintama is, officially, a space comedy about Samurais and their colorful hijinks in a world occupied by Amantos (Aliens in GintaSpeak). Much of the story revolves around Sakata Gintoki (slacker, sugar-junkie, JUMP-obsessed samurai whose heart is bigger than the great galaxy itself), Kagura (a mountain gorilla in the guise of a little girl, and a member of a much-exalted mercenary race called Yato), and Shimura Shinpachi, the tsukkkomi. The trio run an Odd-Jobs business, Yorozuya Gin-chan, tackling literally every mission available, from the ridiculous to the truly dangerous. As they go about their misadventures, they develop meaningful relationships with fellow misfits, strays, and crazyheads.
MEET THE MAN
Zura is introduced as Gintoki's childhood friend, war buddy and partner-in-idiocy, a young man unwilling to move on from his past. In their childhood, Gintoki and Zura lived and learned under the tutelage of the kind-hearted Shoyo-sensei, who taught them the way of the sword and the heart. When the Amanto invaded their country, they were plunged into a long, bloody, and ultimately fruitless war which scarred both men in different ways. While Gintoki attempts his best to move on after the war is lost, Zura spends quite a while dragging the past with him as a leader of a Joui rebel faction with hardliner tactics, until Gintoki slaps him awake with the realization that fatalism isn't the answer to their struggle.
If that made him seem like a mighty serious character, well, worry not. He has plenty of boke charm in him. He can conjure tearjerker shoujo storylines while counting sheep. He arrives for his driving lessons decked in Space Captain gear. And he frequently spouts profound lines like these:
MEET THE DUCK
Elizabeth is introduced in episode 15 (Owners and Their Pets are Alike) when Sakamoto (Zura's other war buddy, a space merchant) delivers it to him as a gift with no notes attached. It is an oft-visited in-joke that Elizabeth is an 'ossan' (old man) beneath his suit, evidenced by his hairy legs and 'old man smell' (episode 129), a fact Zura constantly ignores.
IT'S NOT A SHIP, IT'S ZURABETH!
There's an underlying sweetness from both sides of the relationship. Zura accepts and trusts Eli despite knowing very little about his/her identity. When you consider Zura's past history, particularly his lifelong hatred of Amantos, his closeness with Eli seems almost miraculous. Only Zura and his silly, naive heart would take on a space creature who won't even talk and call it his best friend until, eventually, they find a way to communicate-that their method of communication is so stupidly unique and theirs alone makes it all the more sweeter.
And, as it turned out, Zura is a pretty excellent judge of character. One couldn't hope to find a better friend on this planet than Eli, who deals with Zura's stupid antics with limitless supply of patience and devotion.
(...We're gonna ignore this, okay, this is not manga-canon anyway. This is Zura's nightmare, brought about by soba overdose. )
Eli's loyalty shines the brightest in the Benizakura arc. When Zura goes missing, Eli seeks Yorozuya's assistance, overcoming his awkwardness around strangers. Later on, when the trail of their investigation leads to the ship of a highly dangerous organization, Eli bravely marches to enemy territory to provide decoy for Shinpachi and make a clear statement. Enter Eligo Montoyabeth.
"I'd like some directions."
"Where to?"
"To the gates of Hell!"
And that is not all. As the crisis unfolds, Zura finds himself caught between two duties - that of a leader protecting his men in a battle zone, and that of a comrade seeking to redeem his old friend. It is Eli who sees through Zura's dilemma and responds to it unprompted, allowing Zura a chance to reach out to said friend and promising to hold the fort until Zura returns...
But not before acknowledging how glad he is to see his master back.
Zura's admission to Takasugi, the acknowledgement that he no longer believes in anarchy after meeting all these precious people in his life, is an important character development. It also begs the question: if Zura had never met Elizabeth, the only one of the aforementioned 'important people' who's constantly there to watch his steps, would he have gone back to his old ways?
ZURA & ELI AGAINST THE WORLD
For all of Zura's crazy shoujo stories, he's essentially alone, without a true equal to fight back-to-back with. One of his closest comrades has gone to far-end galaxies, and the other off the deep end. That leaves Gintoki, who has, in a way, moved on, choosing a different kind of battle with his own little family of strays. Zura's men are his men, but they're more a responsibility than a shoulder to lean on. Add to that Zura's unfathomable thought process, and you've got someone doomed to live his entire life alone, had Elizabeth not come along.
Similarly, Eli is essentially an alien stuck in a world that regards him as an odd, freaky thing (even Yorozuya needs time to warm up to him). Only Zura sees him as something 'cute' and lovable. In a sense, they are the only ones who can understand each other, even if the bond isn't something most people will get.
'TIL DEATH STAR DO US APART.
The world Gintama characters inhabit is a crazy and dangerous place where screwdrivers can replace your balls on Fridays, and given Zura's status as political fugitive and Joui leader, things are always gonna be a little rocky for our favorite wighead. However, as long as he's got Eli by his side to rock a dancefloor and share a bowl of soba with, everything's gonna be all right.
We appreciate the lavish descriptions on the menu, but we just want pictures,
a.k.a, show me the fanworks.
Zura/Eli fics (bromance or romance) are extraordinarily difficult to find, although there are excellent genfics that include snippets of their relationship. Pandemonium by xparrot (chapter 11) is one example.
Fanart is another matter entirely. It's raining ZuraEli fanarts on the intarwebs!
.by まぐろゆっけ at pixiv
by 烏鴨 at pixiv (Nuriko-kun @ DA)
by LEE at pixiv
Artist unknown ;___;
...and many more. Go and find 'em. Or make your own. Ask not what your ship can do for you, but ask what you can do for your ship.
Zura and Eli TYFYT. ♥
Sources & Credits:
Images (top to bottom, including gifs):
1. Screencap provided by myvanillafetish.tumblr 2. Official art , source unknown 3. Screencap provided by naturalperm.tumblr 4. Source unknown 5. Screencap by myvanillafetish.tumblr 6. Official art 7. Screencap by myvanillafetish.tumblr 8. Artwork by Ask Elizabetsu 9. GIF made by -katsu.tumblr 10. My own shoddy capping job 11. Ditto 12. Screencaps by sn1987a 13. Official art, source unknown 14. GIF made by -katsu.tumblr 15-20. credited before the image 21.Official art, source unknown.